"[American] Football is a mistake. It combines the two worst features of American life, violence and committee meetings." ---George F. Will
A huddle is not a committee meeting but Americans do love violence. George F. Will. Slightly built, brainiac, bespectacled son of a philosophy professor. As a kid I would guess he was the last one picked when choosing sides for football games. I feel like I saw more flags before the kickoff that at a Memorial Day parade.
I don't think he was the last one picked, I think he was off reading a book somewhere and having a great time doing it. I was just the same as a kid, short, slightly built, and totally indifferent to the game then too. Soccer and baseball, of course, are a different matter.
Makes sense. Great Game so far. 1/2 of the experience are the commercials traditionally.I What do foreign viewrs see?
BBC show the game without commercials. Instead they use the breaks to analyse the game, which is how it should be. Currently, halftime and 2 in the morning in the Netherlands, but have to stay up - wife is from Kansas City and I lived there for 5 years. Good game so far.
Got my bell rung several times playing hockey, high school football and rugby. Now we all know that the euphemism of 'concussion' is really a brain injury. Actually, it's a good excuse for the wife when I mess up.
I returned kickoffs and punts when I was in high school. One night I got hammered hard and whipped into the ground head first, getting my "Bell rung." I got up, not really knowing where I was and started ambling over to the wrong bench. I played the rest of the game (I was a cornerback on defense) but didn't really remember playing the rest of game. Looking at my report card from that year, there was a noticeable difference in my grades for the 6 weeks period around that game.
We used the term "getting your bell rung" as well. But the more serious term of "getting your dick knocked in the dirt" usually implied that your game playing time for that night was over, and probably no practice for the following week.
I remember reading that when the SAS used to jump out of the bomb bay doors of Whitley bombers in the very early days, there was the serious threat of banging your head on the way out. They knicknamed this "ringing the bell".
In high school football back then (when I played in the mid-70s), if a player got hit hard enough and wasn't able to get back up in a reasonable amount of time he'd have to leave the field to be examined by the trainers before being allowed back into the game. After the Saturday morning practice, the game film was reviewed. A red skull and crossbones sticker was awarded to the hitter to affix to his helmet. I never got one, but several of the more aggressive types scored several during the course of the season.
I'm still not sure quite how the 49ers managed to end up losing a game where they seemingly could run at will against the Chiefs defence, and committed fewer turnovers into the bargain. The 11 point margin is excessively flattering. But well done Kansas, after a long SuperBowl drought., and another Lombardi for the AFC West.
On my very first day at football practice I vividly recall being told by the coach that the helmets we were wearing were not intended to protect our heads. They were weapons, period, and he insisted that we use them as such. The world has changed. In fact, my daughter who was an all-provincial soccer player, began to experience severe headaches after heading the ball. They now ban headers here for players under 12 years of age. Neurologists now believe that cumulative brain injuries, even without any obvious signs or symptoms, may be a more serious long term threat in terms of brain injury.